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`Letters Patent No. 70,592, dated November 5, 1867.-

- IMPROVEMENT IN PLANING MACHINES.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY OONCERN:

Be it known that I, RUrUs N. MERIAM, of Worcester, in the county ofWorcester, and State of Massachusctts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Planing Machines; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a portion ofthis specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of a planerconstructed according to my invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical section of vthe same, taken at rightanglcs toiig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding 'parts-in bothfigures.

In that variety of planing machines designed not only for4 planing thesurfaces of lumber, but also for l matching the edges thereof, muchinconvenience has resulted from the necessity of lowering that portionof the bed ofthe machine which supports the upper ends of the verticalshafts which carry the matching-cutters whenever it is required toadjust the said cutters for matching lumber of different thicknesses, orto move the said shaft out of the way in using the planer for surfaceplaning only. The object ofthis invention is to remedy this defect; and,to this end, it consists in a novel combination of parts, whereby theaforesaid shafts may be raised or lowered with reference to the bedwithout changing the position of the said bed, and whereby the.

operation of adjusting the edge or matchin'gcutter heads (over thescrews used in other machines) is greatly facilitated. As the two shaftsare operated simultaneously, and consequently maintain their relativeposition in range with each other at any elevation, they can be adjustedmuch more speedily than by screws; and by this arrangement they can' belowered beneath the surface of the bed, for surface planing only,without removing any portion of the bed, and in a moment of time.`

To enable others to understand the construction and operation of myinvention, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

A represents the frame of the machine, and a the horizontal bed thereof,which supports the lumber during the operations of matching and planing.A portion of the bed is formed by a strong transverse bar, a*, whichYhas attached, in any suitable manner, and in a vertical position, uponone of its sides, two blocks B Bi, which are formed with verticalbearings, which receive the 4upper ends of the two shafts C 0*,hereinafter full;r

described. The block B is rigidly fixed upon the bar ati; but the otherblock, B, is so attached to such bar that it may slide freely thereon,this sliding movement of the block B* being obtained by means of ahorizontal screw, D, one end of which works in a suitable bearing in oneside of theframe A, and the other or threaded por-tion of which works ina female screw formed in the sliding block Bl, the said screw beingfurnished with a bevel-pinion, Z, which gears into a similar pinion, a2,secured to the inner end of a longitudinal shaft, c, the

rear end of which is provided with a crank, Zzi, so that, by turning thesaid crank, the screw D may be readily operated to bring the slidingblock to a greater or less distance from the other or fixed block B, asmay be required. Extending downward from the fixed block B is a fixedvertical standard, E, in one side of which is formed a dove-tail groove,which receives the dove-tail inner portion of a slide, F, which isformed with a Vertical bearing, which receives the lower end of avertical shaft, C, which, together with the shaft 0*, hereinafterdescribed, receives a rotary motion from belts, or by other suitablemeans. The upper end of the said shaft passes through'the bearing in thefixed block B, and, when :the machine is used for matching, is furnishedwith a suitable cutter-head. The slide F has lformed upon it adownwardly-extending rack, d, which gears into a pinion, e, upon atransverse shaft, f, one end of which is supported in abearing formed inan arm, al, attached to the standard E, and the outer end of which worksthrough a bearing, indicated at b,.at the side ofthe frame A, and isprovided with a loaded operating-lever, g. The block Bi is furnishedwith a downwardly-extending standard, Ei, corresponding to that oftheblock B,'the lower end of the said standard E* being stcadied by meansof an arni, L, attached thereto, and having its outer end encircling theshaft f, as shown in fig. 2. This standard E* is, like the standard E,furnished with a vertically-moving slide, marked F*, to which isattached the vertical shaft 0*, corresponding to the sha-ft C of theother slide, and furnished, during the operation of matching, with acutter-head` in the same manner. 5

The rack d* of the slide F* gearsinto a pinion, 0*, upon the shaft f, sothat, by turning the said shaft in one direction or the other, thepiniens e e* will operate the racks d d* to raise or lower, as the casemay be, the

slides F F1, and consequently the vertical shafts C 0*, the end portionsof the said shafts sliding freely through their bearings in the blocks BBei, so that, by this means, the shafts may be raised or lowered toadjust the cutters at their upper endsto match lnmber of any desire'dthickness, or, when such cutters are removed, to bring the ends of theshafts wholly below the bed of the machine, as shown in red outline iniig. l, without disturbing any portion of the said bed, at the same timethat the shafts C 0*, and consequently the cutters thereof, may beadjusted at any desired distance apart, in tbeoperation of matching, byvmoving the block B",

land the parts attached thereto, by means of the screw D, ashereinbefore explained, any interference with the means wherebyrsuchadjustlnent is made, bythe vertical movement of shafts, as when aportion ot' the bed is moved with the said shafts'fbeing also etectullyavoided. What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is

The slides F Fl, carrying the shafts C 0*, and constructed with racks ddk, in combination with the blocks B B*, formed with standards E El, andthe pinions c 0*, whereby the said shafts may `be raised or lowered withreference to the bed a, constructed and operating substantially asherein set forth.-

RUFUS N. MERIAM.

Witnesses:

J. HENRY HILL, ,Win H. YOUNG.

